WMO and UNITAR join forces on climate services

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has announced in a recent press release that it will cooperate with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in order to strengthen links between providers and users of climate services. This cooperation will contribute to the implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS).

WMO highlights the exceptional need to cooperate in the context of climate services: "A strong priority of the GFCS is to increase and improve interactions between climate service providers and those who make use of the services, in order to increase the uptake and effective use of climate information. This will require unprecedented collaboration because no single government or agency has the necessary resources to address all the challenges on its own. Consequently, the success of the GFCS depends on the ability of all relevant stakeholders including WMO to partner effectively to meet its objectives."

By cooperating more closely with UNITAR and its Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT), which provides satellite imagery analysis and satellite solutions, WMO foresees that both agencies together can "help make a difference in critical areas such as disaster risk reduction, development planning and humanitarian relief".